Who am I?

Who are you?

This was the only statement on the letter Sophie found in her mailbox tonight during our reading of Sophie's World. I have decided to answer, or least attempt an answer of sorts.

I am all of the titles I associate with myself--woman, mother, teacher, sister, daughter, partner, friend, cynic, poet, philosopher, idealist, feminist...

But without the proper genitalia, I am no woman. Without children, no mother. Without students, no teacher. Without siblings, no sister. Without parents, no daughter--actually that's no completely true. Daughter or son, of course, depend on genitalia or sex, but the fact is this, I am a child. Even if I do not know my parents or if they pass away--I am a child, I originated somewhere from someone. So I am a child of other humans--a child of the universe.

Now for the other titles. I am a cynic. I can think of no absence that would call this into question. I am a poet because it is how I see the world but perhaps in the absence of words, I could not be a poet. A philosopher, idealist--fine. I am a feminist--yet without inequality, I could not be for equality.

What is my essence--that which is beyond the titles? I am energy on this planet harboring a fervor for this life that I am living, for I am certainly alive--my living is not in question, so I am alive.

This is hard stuff and certainly a topic for another night when I have more zeal for philosophizing.